{"id":29381,"date":"2016-05-23T07:13:22","date_gmt":"2016-05-23T11:13:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/?p=29381"},"modified":"2016-05-23T07:13:22","modified_gmt":"2016-05-23T11:13:22","slug":"the-family-research-council-and-the-politics-of-exclusion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2016\/05\/the-family-research-council-and-the-politics-of-exclusion.html","title":{"rendered":"The Family Research Council and the Politics of Exclusion"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Guess what I noticed on the Family Research Council Facebook page?<\/p>\n

\"Screen<\/p>\n

Image description: A Family Research Council\u00a0Facebook post featuring a picture of three girls in swimsuits in a locker room with the text \u201cProtect Their Rights\u201d\u00a0emblazoned on it, the words<\/em>\u00a0\u201cbecause they should not be silenced for feeling uncomfortable with a male student in their locker room\u201d above it, and the words \u201curge Congress to take action to protect our children and stop the Obama administration\u2019s radical overreach\u201d under it.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

This\u00a0image, of course, refers to President Obama\u2019s new directive advising public elementary and secondary schools on how to accommodate transgender students. There are several things to note here. First,\u00a0the image calls the viewer to \u201cprotect their rights\u201d and to \u201ctake action to protect our children\u201d but clearly excludes transgender students from both \u201ctheir\u201d and \u201cour.\u201d\u00a0Next,\u00a0the text above the image reads: \u201cBecause they should not be silenced for feeling uncomfortable with a male student in their locker room.\u201d This is interesting, because the\u00a0Family Research Council isn\u2019t generally big on children\u2019s rights, or on asking children what they<\/em> want.<\/p>\n

And you know what? In most cases where accommodations for a transgender student have become an issue, it is the parents, and not the fellow students, who have made it an issue\u2014and it isn\u2019t always even an issue! There are transgender students at my daughter\u2019s elementary school, but I haven\u2019t heard an issue at all. The students\u2019 aren\u2019t bothered, the children aren\u2019t bothered, there is absolutely no problem<\/em>.<\/p>\n

And yet we get this from the Family Research Council:<\/p>\n

\"Screen<\/p>\n

Image description: Family Research Council Facebook post of an image of diverse elementary school children accompanying an article titled \u201c3 Reasons North Carolina Is Right to Protect the Privacy and Safety of its Citizens.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Okay, so, I have a question. Where do transgender students fit in this framing? Aren\u2019t they, too, citizens of North Carolina, if that is where they live? Note that they\u2019re entirely excluded from this plead or protecting \u201cthe privacy and safety\u201d of North Carolina\u2019s citizens. Since they\u2019re the other, presumably. Somehow they don\u2019t count, and their privacy and safety does not matter. What\u2019s galling, though, is their complete and deliberate exclusion from every mention of \u201cour children\u201d and \u201ctheir rights\u201d in each piece\u00a0promotional literature for Family Research Council or other related groups that I\u2019ve seen. In a world where 40% of trans people will commit suicide, this exclusion is so inexcusable as to be horrifying.<\/p>\n

Two more things. First, is it accurate to describe someone as a \u201ccitizen\u201d of a state, rather than simply as a resident?\u00a0I\u2019m curious whether this is done deliberately, by the way, given that the opposition to North Carolina\u2019s HB2 is coming from the federal Department of Justice, in the name of guaranteeing all citizens\u2019 rights. Emphasizing that these are citizens of North Carolina<\/em> may subconsciously suggest that this should be a state-level decision only.\u00a0Finally,\u00a0I suspect that\u00a0the kids in that picture wouldn\u2019t even notice if a transgender student used the bathroom next to them in school, but then\u00a0I don\u2019t think the Family Research Council actually cares about their feelings.<\/p>\n

Speaking of which, when did Family Research Council become concerned about whether students are made to feel uncomfortable in their own school?\u00a0Consider that Media Matters states that the Family Research Council \u201cleads\u201d the fight<\/a> against anti-gay bulling prevention efforts. Every step along the way, they\u2019ve done everything they can to stonewall efforts to cut down on anti-gay bullying in public schools. They appear to only care about whether students are made to feel uncomfortable in ways that make\u00a0those who work at Family Research Council<\/em> uncomfortable.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s another one from their Facebook page:<\/p>\n

\"Screen<\/p>\n

Image description: Petition labeled \u201cI strongly urge Congress to take action to protect our children and stop\u00a0the Obama\u00a0administration\u2019s radical overreach\u201d with the intro \u201cThis has gone too far. The United States Congress is still the voice of the American people. It\u2019s past time that they stand up to the unlawful actions of the president. If you agree, SIGN your name here.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Here again with the call to \u201cprotect our children.\u201d Well guess what? The transgender children the directive is intended to help are \u201cour children\u201d too. After all, they are children, and the \u201cour\u201d being used is clearly a collective term. Therefore, transgender children, too, are \u201cour children.\u201d What about protecting them?<\/em><\/p>\n

And then there\u2019s this one, too:<\/p>\n

\"Screen<\/p>\n

Image description: A young girl covers her face while sitting in an empty classroom. The image accompanies an article titled \u201cTransgender Activists Put Ideology Above Safety\u201d\u00a0with the\u00a0intro line \u201cIf the transgender movement is truly about acceptance and tolerance for ALL, then the voices of women and young girls who are uncomfortable with a male in their restroom need to be heard.<\/em><\/p>\n

In claiming that transgender activists put ideology above safety, the Family Research Council comes across as either profoundly unaware or profoundly dense. The Family Research Council itself is putting ideology above safety\u2014namely, they are putting their ideas about gender (as evidenced by their insistence on calling transgender women men) above the safety of trans people. Should we talk about the safety of women and girls? Absolutely! But (a) this conversation has got to include trans women and trans girls and (b) I and other progressives have<\/em> talked about the safety of all<\/em> women and all<\/em> girls, and frequently, pointing out that trans people are not predators and that, say, girls are more likely to be molested in their churches<\/em><\/a> than in a public bathroom.<\/p>\n

Should we hear form women and young girls concerned about trans friendly bathroom bills? Yes. And then we should give them accurate information to help quell their fears. But this isn\u2019t just about unreasonable fears versus accurate information. It\u2019s also about various groups\u2019 contrasting fears\u2014and that is something the Family Research Council doesn\u2019t seem to be able to grasp, just like they can post an image of teen girls in swimsuits with the words \u201cProtect Their Rights\u201d without apparently even realizing that one of those girls could be trans, or that trans girls have rights that need protecting too. Can you say selective?<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

What I want to leave you with, though, is that underlying exclusion. The very framework the Family Research Council uses when speaking of \u201cour children\u201d and \u201ctheir rights\u201d ignores the reality that trans children are children too, and they also have rights. It creates a framework where they can claim to be protecting innocent children from the other, from the predator, without acknowledging that that in many cases that supposed predator is<\/em> another innocent child<\/em>, and that in many cases the conflict itself\u00a0is created by the parents, and not by the children.<\/p>\n

If the Family Research Council cared about rights, and about privacy, and about safety, they wouldn\u2019t oppose anti-bullying efforts, they wouldn\u2019t have opposed gay marriage, and they wouldn\u2019t continue to portray LGBTQ people as child predators. If they cared about child sexual abuse, they would be leading an effort to inform their followers of where such abuse usually occurs\u2014in the home\u2014and who typically perpetrates it\u2014a family member or close friend. They would be working to weed out such abuse in their churches, their Christian schools, and their colleges and universities. But they don\u2019t appear to be\u00a0doing any of that.<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t about protecting children, and it isn\u2019t about privacy or safety, and it isn\u2019t about protecting people\u2019s rights. It\u2019s about valuing ideology over people.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If the Family Research Council cared about rights, and about privacy, and about safety, they wouldn’t oppose anti-bullying efforts, they wouldn’t have opposed gay marriage, and they wouldn’t continue to portray LGBTQ people as child predators. If they cared about child sexual abuse, they would be leading an effort to inform their followers of where such abuse usually occurs—in the home—and who typically perpetrates it—a family member or close friend.<\/p>\n

Click through to read more!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":845,"featured_media":29384,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29381","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-evangelicalism-fundamentalism","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Family Research Council and the Politics of Exclusion<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"If the Family Research Council cared about rights, and about privacy, and about safety, they wouldn't oppose anti-bullying efforts, they wouldn't have opposed gay marriage, and they wouldn't continue to portray LGBTQ people as child predators. If they cared about child sexual abuse, they would be leading an effort to inform their followers of where such abuse usually occurs---in the home---and who typically perpetrates it---a family member or close friend. 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